Is gas $1.98 a gallon in a few U.S. states, as Donald Trump said? That’s False

Twice in recent days, President Donald Trump has touted the lows he says gas prices have reached during his presidency.

"You have gasoline that hit $1.98 yesterday in a couple of states," Trump said April 17 while meeting with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni.

He repeated that statistic in another White House event April 22.

"I see that we had a couple of states where gasoline was at $1.98 a gallon," Trump said. "Nobody thought they'd see that for years maybe. And that's a big thing. And we opened up our wells, we opened up our drilling."

But no state has had an average gasoline price close to $1.98 per gallon in recent weeks. The lowest per-gallon price we could find of all U.S. gas stations was $2.11 at one station, as of April 23, according to a company that tracks prices at stations across the U.S.

Energy experts also expressed doubt that Trump’s pro-drilling policies have affected the recent price of gasoline.

The White House did not respond to an inquiry for this fact-check. 

What’s the lowest statewide gas price?

The national average price for a gallon of regular gasoline the week of Trump’s most recent remark was either $3.14, according to the federal Energy Information Administration, or $3.17, according to the industry group American Automobile Association. 

Texas had the lowest statewide price cited by the Energy Information Administration, at $2.66 per gallon, and Mississippi had the lowest statewide price in the American Automobile Association data set, at $2.68. 

Both of those prices are one-third higher than the amount Trump cited.

The last time Texas had a statewide price under $1.98 per gallon was in January 2021, when the coronavirus pandemic lowered gasoline demand because of decreased travel and commuting. The last time before that was in April 2016.

Checking GasBuddy.com, which tracks gas prices at individual stations across the country, we found no station in the U.S. offering gasoline at $1.98 per gallon. 

Initially, we found one station in GasBuddy’s database that was listed as selling gasoline for 1.99 a gallon, the Sam’s Club in Mooresville, North Carolina. But when we called the location, they said this appears to be a prank report; their actual price is $2.69.

Have Trump policies lowered gasoline prices?

The national average price of gasoline has fallen in recent weeks, according to the Energy Information Administration. After peaking at $3.24 per gallon the week of April 7, the average price fell for two consecutive weeks, to $3.14 the week of April 21.

Trump said "we opened up our wells, we opened our drilling." Energy experts said the gasoline price drops do not appear to be connected to Trump energy policies; instead, they are related to increased international oil production and economic forces.

The standard source for tracking oil rig usage — from Baker Hughes, an energy technology company — shows that the number of rigs in use has been largely flat in recent months. 

There’s no sign of increased U.S. oil production. 

"North Dakota tends to report numbers quickly, and there's no evidence of an uptick in production there," said Clark Williams-Derry, an energy finance analyst with the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis. 

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Dennis Kucinich

stated on March 3, 2011 in a House committee hearing

"Due to a flaw in the 1995 Outer Continental Shelf Deep Water Royalty Relief Act numerous oil companies are now drilling in the Gulf of Mexico in federal lands and paying no royalties to the federal government."

In Texas and New Mexico, two other significant oil-producing states, oil production declined in February, said Hugh Daigle, an associate petroleum and geosystems engineering professor at the University of Texas at Austin.

Williams-Derry attributes the recent gasoline price declines to two factors.

The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, or OPEC, which does not include the U.S., has announced that it is increasing production. Boosting production means increasing supply, which, all other things being equal, usually lowers prices. 

The second factor has to do with "economic jitters related to trade and political uncertainties," Williams-Derry said. Trump’s tariffs "have reduced projected economic growth, both in the U.S. and globally, which has reduced projected growth in global oil demand. "

Increased U.S. oil production would not be guaranteed to lower gasoline prices, because the oil would flow into the global market supply and potentially be canceled out by other countries’ production declines.

"Realistically, there is little that can be done on the policy side to make a large difference in gasoline prices, as they are subject to global supply and demand forces," Daigle said.

Our ruling

Trump said, "We had a couple of states where gasoline was at $1.98 a gallon."

The lowest statewide price during the week Trump made this remark was $2.66.

April 23 data from GasBuddy.com shows that no gas station out of roughly 150,000 nationally sold gasoline for $1.98 per gallon. 

While Trump said his policies are responsible for lowering gasoline prices nationally, there is no evidence of a significant uptick in drilling or production. Analysts credit a gasoline price drop during the past two weeks to a production increase by other countries, and concerns about Trump’s policies hurting the U.S. global and economic outlook.

We rate the statement False.